You are here

English

113 Suicide prevention

Worldwide every year 800,000 to 1.2 million people commit suicide. In the Netherlands, with a population of over 17 million, more than 1,800 people die by suicide every year and 94,000 people with suicidal thoughts attempt to take their lives. Despite these high rates and the damage it does to those involved and to society, talking about suicide is still considered a taboo. People with suicidal thoughts often feel isolated. This is partly, because the health care professionals they visit are unable to address the issues of despair and suicidality. In order to enhance suicide prevention in healthcare and beyond, 113 provides a range of online servicesaimed at suicide prevention in healthcare and beyond. These services can be used anonymously and free of charge 24/7. This lets people with suicidal thoughts find or regain hope, get help and find adaptive ways to cope with despair and psychological pain. In addition, 113 aims at empowering, teaching and training health care professionals, gatekeepers throughout society, relatives and friends in order for them to overcome their reluctance to address suicidal thoughts and behaviour.

Who we are

113 Suicide Prevention is the national Dutch suicide prevention centre, financed mainly by the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport (Ministerie van VWS). Our organization has been active as an independent care provider since September 2009. We employ psychologists and psychiatrists and a large group of fully trained volunteers who let us provide round-the-clock confidential support through chats and phone calls. 113 works in close cooperation with the mental health institutes' crisis centres. Together, these professionals are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week across the Netherlands for crisis dialogues, psychological treatments or referrals to a medical practitioner.

Consultation by telephone (the opportunity to pose a brief question to a professional in a session lasting a maximum of ten minutes)

Self-tests (questionnaires to fill in and to offer an indication of the severity of your troubles and symptoms (an anxiety and depression test and a test that measures suicidal tendencies)

If you need help urgently, please contact the Samaritans. You can only get therapy in English at 113 after a consultation with a 113 Suicide Prevention psychologist.

Training academy

In addition, we support clients with our training services aimed at both professionals working in mental health care (GGZ professionals) and people who are facing suicide in their professional practice or personal environment. The PITSTOP training programme has been developed for GGZ Professionals as a guide to the implementation of the multidisciplinary guideline for the diagnosis and treatment of suicidal behaviour (MDR Diagnostiek en behandeling van suïcidaal gedrag). In our gatekeepers' training programme our clients learn how to notice signs of suicidal thoughts, to talk about this and to get professional help.

The development and dissemination of training opportunities for medical staf, other professionals and gatekeepers in society;

Tracking the implementation and sharing of evidence-based suicide best practice within large healthcare institutions, using standardized monitoring instruments and methods;

Implementation of multilevel multimodal suicide prevention measures in 6 regions, reaching 1.3 million inhabitants, in line with the European Alliance Against Depression (Optimizing Suicide Prevention Interventions OSPI);

International orientation

113 has a strong international orientation through participation in the European Alliance Against Suicide and our role in the International Zero Suicide Movement.
We are continuously developing our work by researching the effectiveness and reach of our menthal health services together with our partners, the VU University of Amsterdam and the mental health institution GGZ inGeest. Together we have initiated SURE-NL, a scientific consortium aimed at lifesaving suicide research. 113 has been invited to contribute to major scientific conferences worldwide (Rome, Beijing, Tel Aviv, Boston, Atlanta, London and Ghent). Next year we will be present at conferences in Sydney, Australia and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.